class notes 4/21

Today we continued our discussion of Act V scene 1 and are pretty much done the scene. We last left off with the question of whose skull was being dug up. It turns out that the body and the skull belong to Yorick, the old court jester that Hamlet once knew. Hamlet comes to realize whether a person was a court jester or a great leader like Alexander or Caesar, we all die and we all turn out to be the same-dust.
Hamlet also asks the gravedigger how long he has been a gravedigger, in which he replies since old Hamlet beat old Fortinbras, the same day young Hamlet was born. This is the only indication of Hamlet's age and it tells us that Hamlet is about 30 years old. The gravedigger also talks about how Hamlet was sent to England where he will either regain his wits or simply remain with the other crazy people in England. This was a joke about the English that the audience would have enjoyed. It is important to remember that the gravedigger doesn't know he is talking to prince.
Next a funeral procession for Ophelia enters and Hamlet is surprised that the funeral is Ophelia and is upset(or acting upset, depending on you point of view). As Ophelia is lowered into the grave an upset Laertes (we can safely assume this is legit sadness) jumps into her grave with her. Hamlet then jumps out and picks a fight with Laertes saying that he in fact loved Ophelia more than Laertes ever could and fights with Laertes. Picking a fight with the grieving family by claiming greater love is not a normal thing for someone to do and as a result Hamlet is called mad by the King and Queen. It wasn't expected at all that Hamlet would be at the funeral so it was a definite suprise to the mourners and adds to Hamlet's shown insanity. So the question is whether Hamlet is really insane or if he is continuing with his act. This act of anger would show he has no guilt and may be insane, although the anger may be him covering up the guilt. A more common reaction in a situation from most people would be to apologize or more likely avoid Laertes all together. However Hamlet may be thinking rationally and believe that Laertes is now a threat to him, since he did wrong to Laertes, and that he should take action against Laertes before he does the same to Hamlet. Hamlet may also be trying to provide more cover for an act of craziness. The question of whether he is crazy or acting crazy can be interpreted different ways and there isn't a difinitive answer. That sums up the questions and answers we covered today in class.

-Andrew Burke